


My Happily Ever After

by gray_autumn_sky



Series: During the Cursed Years [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Other, Regal Believer Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 19:13:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15371433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_autumn_sky/pseuds/gray_autumn_sky
Summary: At a town fair, little Henry gets a temporary lion tattoo on his arm.





	My Happily Ever After

To say that adopting Henry had changed her life was an understatement–adopting Henry had saved it.

Before Henry, she’d led a dull life–everyone in Storybrooke did.The days and nights blended together, weeks passed with little notice, and from year to year, nothing ever changed. Everything was static and unchanging, lonely and void of anything that brought any satisfaction.

Until Henry, there’d been little point in anything–actions didn’t have consequences, hard work never paid off. And while she didn’t care about the residents of Storybrooke or their happiness, in the earliest years of the curse, she often found herself looking for projects to take up her time, to give her something to focus on. The projects were always temporary and made little impact. It hardly mattered that recycling bins were placed all around town or that a new swingset was installed at the park because it all just blended into the scenery as though it’d always been there–and as petty as it might have been, she needed more payoff than simply knowing she’d done something for the greater good.

So, until Henry, Storybrooke didn’t have any traditions or festivities. There were no parades or street fairs with games and funnel cakes; there were no hayrides and corn mazes in the fall or ice-skating rinks and hot-chocolate stands in the winter; and there were no barbeques in the park or fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July in the summer.

But Henry loved all of those things–and, better yet, he remembered them.

Like any parent, Regina wanted to give her son a happy childhood. She loved watching as his eyes lit up with excitement and his little laugh rang out; he’d gasp and point and beg to take part in things, and she could never say no to him–she didn’t want to. So every year, she found herself trying to outdo the previous year, to keep the wonder and the magic alive for him.

And as he tugged her down Main Street, toward a tent that promised face-painting and balloons, it was obvious that she’d succeeded in her goal.

“Look!” He shouts too loudly as he pointed to one of the booths. “Look, Mama!”

“I see,” she laughs as she stooped down in front of him. “Do you want to try?” Momentarily, she looks to the sign. “You could have the Superman S on your cheek or a shooting star or a unicorn…” Henry considers for a moment, turning back and looking at the sign. “You can pick anything.”

“What if I don’t like it?”

“It’ll wash off.”

His eyes widen as he looks back at her, “But what if I do like it, Mama. What if I want to keep it?”

“Oh,” she murmurs, giving his hips a little squeeze. “We could always take a picture.”

“Yeah,” he mumbles, once more looking back at the sign. “That’s true…”

“You could think about it a little longer,” she suggests. “We could play a couple more games or go on the bumper cars again and come back when…”

“No!” He cuts in as a group of children passes on their way to their next activity. “I know what I want!”

“Do you?” She asks as he nods slowly. “What are you going to get?”

“It’s a secret!” He giggles. “I want it to be a surprise!” She laughs as little and starts to stand, but Henry’s little hands rest on her shoulders in an attempt to keep her down at his level. “No. You stay here. I’ll go alone.”

Her heart flutters a little, but she nods, rationalizing that the tent is only a few feet away. “Okay,” she says, handing him the required ticket necessary for a face-painting. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”

Henry nods and runs off, and she watches as he gets into line, craning his neck for a better look at the sign and examining the other children as they leave the tent. She bites off the end of a churro as Henry steps into the tent and she looks around, watching as children play Skee Ball and Whack-a-Mole at nearby tables. Her eyes drift to the the Sand Art table and she watches as a little boy fills a heart-shaped jar with pink and purple sand, and a faint smile draws onto her lips and she feels an odd stirring in her chest. She likes this person that she is, this person she’d become since adopting Henry and when a little girl steps up to the Sand Art table, handing her father a yellow and green balloon that’s shaped like a pineapple, the man smiles and waves to her, murmuring some compliment about a job well-done that makes her feel something like feels like pride.

“Mama!” Henry calls, “Mama! Look! Look what I got, Mama! Look!” She spins around, smiling as Henry sprints toward her and she laughs as he practically crashes into her. “Look, Mama!”

“I… I want to but… what am I looking at?” She examines his still-clean cheeks. “Did you decide not to get face-painting?”

“Yup!” He nods. “I got something better!”

“Oh?”

And then her breath catches in her chest as Henry thrusts his arm forward, turning his wrist to show off a lion tattoo on his forearm. “Isn’t it cool, Mama?” He asks, “And it’s gonna last a whole week!” Her chest tightens as she thinks back to a memory she likes to keep tucked away, a memory of a missed opportunity of yet another time she’d turned away from love. “Do you like it, Mama?”

Pulling herself back into the moment, she sinks down so that she’s at eye-level with Henry–Henry the nearly-five year old boy who’s brought to her so much light and love, and more joy than she ever knew possible, the boy who is her happily ever after. “I do,” she murmurs, swallowing hard in an effort to keep her tears at bay. “I love you, Henry.”

“I know,” he giggles as she presses a feathery kiss to his cheek. “Can we still take a picture?”

“Yeah,” she nods. “When we get home.”

“Good! I wanna remember this!”

Again, her chest flutters and she nods–she wants to remember it, too–she wants to remember every moment with her sweet boy–the boy who gave her life a renewed purpose, the boy who brought love into her life and the boy who reminds her to strive to be better than she is–the boy who saved her.


End file.
